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Have you always dreamed of living the life of an NBA superstar? The money, the talents,
the cars, the women. If only you could overcome the one thing getting in your way, and that
being having a total lack of anything that even resembles athletic talent. The solution
to this problem is definitely not going outside and practicing but rather staying inside and
playing NBA Ballers. This is the sequel to the PS2 original. Chosen One allows you to
create a virtual self and work towards turning them into the greatest NBA player who ever
lived. With it comes all the rewards for your efforts.
The game plays like many other arcade basketball games, focusing more on super meters rather
than triangle offence. The meat of the game is in the story mode. You create a baller,
and take him through the ranks to stardom. The story mode is broken down into many different
challenges. The challenges are varied but some are much more solid than others and therefore
more fun. The game is best during the 2 on 2 matches or the 1 on 1 with take backs. These
are much better than say the 3 man free for all. These are when you don’t have to take
the ball back and can just put in bucket after bucket. It sounds like fun but all it turns
into is shot after shot getting blocked and the game just dragging on. Not nearly as fun
as other modes. The game really gets the feel of playground basketball. You can even play
half court with take backs and Make-it Take-it rules. Really takes me back the days on the
schoolyard.
The basketball itself though suffers. You can pull off some pretty fancy moves, from
windmill dunk to no-look passes. As you do these you build up a super gage, which is
broken into levels. When it is at level one you can use it or save it more something more
impressive. These range from over the top dunks to steals to guaranteed 3 pointers from
anywhere on the court. They are represented with a video that, while interesting at first,
quickly becomes boring. Another problem is the controls just don’t feel as responsive.
Many times your player will do what they want rather than what you want. This can become
very frustrating when you try an easy dunk only to blow it will a botched floater. And
this goes double for the computer. Never trust your teammate with the ball, seriously. They
will pass up the easy points for the no-chance play, leaving you to clean up afterwards.
The game has a nice roster of NBA players to compete against. Everyone from Amar'e Stoudemire
to Paul Pierce are in the game. Every time you beat a challenge, it unlocks gear and
clothes that you can use to further customize your player. Also, there is an interesting
growth system. Instead of just unlocking stats for you to assign, the game determines how
well you performed in certain aspects and adjusts your stats accordingly. This means
your stats will reflect what type of player you are. Are you always in the paint ready
for a rebound like Dwight Howard or do you like to stay in the backcourt and shoot the
3 ball like Ray Allen.
The game boils down to a nothing special street basketball game. And with some great titles
like NBA Jam and the NBA Street series, this game doesn’t really do anything to make
it stand out from them. It is decent enough for a quick play but doesn’t have you coming
back like other games in the genre.